Fabulous Friday!

Okay, so it might not be fabulous Friday. I'm already dreading all I have to get done today. I have to get the sticker for my car tags, pay the electric and cable bills, and get the dog to the groomer, all by 11 am. Then I have to pay the phone bill, eat lunch, come home and wash the dogs beds, vacuum the car, and get back to get the dog by about 3. Whew. Wears me out just thinking about it!

I did manage to get some jewels made yesterday. Here's some photos:

The first piece above is a cranberry and plum seashell brooch. I used 14K gold filled wire and freshwater rice pearls for the blooms coming out of the shell.

The second piece is a butterfly pendant modeled after a pendant from the early 1900's by Elisabeth Bonte. I think it turned out exceptional and it looks a lot like the inspiration piece from the book Amazing Gems.

The third is a bead made in the shape of a vase, and it's floral arrangement is made from 14k gold filled wire, pearls, Swarovski crystal and a really neat glass tube bead with orange, pink, and black striping.

I shared these with my jewelry list last night. I'm surprised no one had anything to say about the Bonte Butterfly. But then many of the collectors probably don't know too much about that artist. I can barely find anything on the net about her myself. I just thought it was kind of neat to recreate a piece of antique jewelry in polymer clay. The original piece was made of etched and painted horn. I love the design I came up with for the pendant (which is actually different than the inspiration piece), and will probably make some more butterfly pendants like that in the future.

I was in the mood to incorporate the wire and genuine gems and crystals into some of my work yesterday, and I think I accomplished my goal.

I don't know if I'll have any time to get anything new started today or not.